Individual designers and artists often do everything in their power to advance their own personal talent and creativity.
Le labo des héritiers
With the Bakkers, the Scarpas, the Van Severens and the Vermeersches as a starting point, the Grand Hornu’s exhibition asks the question: what does the artistic family mean today?
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- 19 September 2014
- Hornu
Putting together an exhibition about their family connections is not something that they would naturally think of taking on. In addition to parents and family members, there are teachers, colleagues and friends who have had influences on their work, and of course, there is always the period of time when the work is made. Does that not have far more impact on a design or work than any individual?
Of course, the family connections with which designers and artists grow up have an effect on their work. It may not be direct, but it is there, consciously or unconsciously, by way of the importance of creativity, an outlook on life, the values being handed down. It is difficult to pinpoint this influence, and this exhibition does not offer a conclusive answer.
“Cultural connection, rather than inheritance”, is how designer and architect Tobia Scarpa describes the artistic love-hate relationship that he had with his father, architect Carlo Scarpa. There are connections, but there are also differences, at all kinds of levels, between designer Gijs Bakker, his wife Emmy van Leersum and their son Aldo Bakker. This is also true for the four Vermeersch grandsons, Pieter, Lowie, Tinus and Robin, all of whom have built successful art or design careers in the footsteps of their father Rik and grandfather José. The same applies to architect David Van Severen and his brother, artist and designer Hannes, the children of designer Maarten and grandsons of the abstract painter Dan Van Severen.
With these four families – the Bakkers, the Scarpas, the Van Severens and the Vermeersches – as a starting point, “Le Labo des héritiers” asks the question: what does the artistic family mean today? Can such families still exist, and if so, what form do they take?
How do the children and grandchildren of important artists or designers experience the artistic legacy that they inherit? What do they find inspiring in the oeuvres of their forefathers? How do they look at this legacy, and what do they take from it for their own work? Are they grateful for it, or do they reject it? Do they seek confrontation with it, or invent diversionary tactics? Or do they resolutely just follow their own paths?
In practice, the answers to these questions can be widely diverse. Today, the very idea of the artistic family must be rediscovered, over and over again.
from September 21, 2014 until January 4, 2015
Le labo des héritiers
curated by Marc Holthof
Grand Hornu Images
Site du Grand-Hornu
Rue Sainte-Louise 82
Hornu